Marmion sends 9 to state

The Class 2A Lemont sectional tournament on Friday and Saturday was for individuals, but that didn't stop Marmion from dominating as a team.

The top three place finishers from each weight class advanced to the Class 2A state finals. With 6 wrestlers vying for individual championships and 5 others for third place, the Cadets entered Saturday afternoon's finals in prime position to advance quite a few individuals to state. And did they ever, with 5 championships, a runner-up and a trio of victories in third-place bouts to advance enough wrestlers to field a baseball team.

"I'm so proud of them," said Pat Greco, Marmion's 145-pound champion. "Even the guys who didn't win wrestled their tails off. Some had bad draws, others had a couple mistakes, and the guys who did win I'm super proud of. It's a bright future here."

Ben Whitford remained unbeaten to get the winning started for the Cadets. The magnificent freshman improved to 39-0 when he got a major decision in a 22-10 victory over Lincoln-Way West's Mike Schloegel.

Fellow freshman George Fisher followed with a 7-2 victory against Illiana Christian senior Albert Dekker at 125 pounds.

"It was a goal to first make it out of the regional and then to hopefully make it out of sectionals," Fisher said. "We're doing a lot better than last year with the expectations coming in as freshmen and just building off of each other."

Sophomore Angelo Silvestro gave the Cadets three consecutive titles with his 8-0 major decision over Rich East's Bryan Pittman.

"All of us are banging the head, getting them out of position and getting into their heads to make them feel bad about themselves," Fisher said. "We just keep pushing the pace and working hard."

After registering a 22-9 major decision over Chicago Harlan's Tyanthony Bain in the semifinals, Pat Greco edged Rich Central Ishmael Rempson 10-7 for the 145-pound title. Greco beat Rempson in last Saturday's Oswego regional by a 20-11 major decision.

"It came down to match management and just knowing you've got to wrestle for six minutes," Greco said. "That's what I did and I knew I was going to win."

Greco expected Rempson to make adjustments from their prior meeting.

"He didn't know what to expect the last time so today he knew my style," Greco said. "I knew I was stronger and in better condition, and I didn't think about winning or losing but just doing what I've done all season."

Dan Rowland dropped a 3-0 decision to Yorkville's A.J. Messenger at 152 pounds for the Cadets' only championship loss on the day, but that didn't dampen the mood, especially with what was forthcoming at 171 pounds.

That's when Nico Jimenez did something that 30 other wrestlers haven't been able to do this season - beat Rich South's Trenton Kriha. Jimenez dropped a 5-3 decision to Kriha at the Oswego regional, but on Saturday he won 5-0.

"I think I went into the match with a little better mental attitude," Jimenez said. "He was undefeated so I knew he was great. Last week he was able to take me down. This time I was able to defend his quick shots in on me and that's what won me the match."

Freshman Alex Fritz proved to be the final Cadet to advance when he dropped Hillcrest senior Isaiah Stephens 2-1 at 285 pounds for third place. Earlier in the day for third place, Eddie Breen advanced on a prior decision at 135 pounds and David Niels scored a 10-2 major decision over Glenbard South's Marcus Rokosh at 189 pounds.

While Rokosh's season came to a close, a couple of fellow Raiders are still going strong.

The highly touted match at 285 pounds between Lemont's Angel Cabral and Glenbard South's Austin Teitsma did not disappoint.

Teitsma (26-0) fell behind 5-0 but fought his way back, especially snagging some momentum with a takedown at the end of the second period to cut his deficit to 6-4. Teitsma would finally even the bout at 6-6 with 14.9 seconds remaining in the third period and force overtime. Then, 38 seconds into the extra period, Teitsma overwhelmed Cabral (30-2) with a walk-off takedown.

"I was in very good shape out there and I wanted it for sure," Teitsma said. "You need to have these kinds of matches to get better. I loved it. He's a great wrestler and hopefully we'll meet again."

Teitsma will be joined in Champaign by teammate Andrew Hiller who got a 12-4 major decision against Marmion's Mike York at 140 pounds. Hiller had previously beaten York in last week's Oswego regional.

"I overheard that he was going to be more aggressive," Hiller said. "I just tried to take his shots without letting him finish."

Perhaps there isn't a better example of a wrestler setting big goals, working hard and achieving like Hiller has done in his senior campaign.

"At the beginning of the year I set of goal of getting to state and my coach said that was too big of a goal," Hiller said. "I started out 5-7 and coach said to try to get to 20 wins first. I did that and then tried to place at conference but didn't. So I went into regionals trying to win, and did. It gave me the opportunity to get to the sectional and get to state, which I did today. It all feels so great right now."